National Competition

The aim of the National Golden Tulip Competition is to encourage the realisation of highly qualified films of art in Turkey, to support the development thereof; to make sure that the qualified products of the cinema of Turkey reach the viewers; to provide for these films to be screened for international film critics, festival directors, representatives of distributors and televisions; and thus contribute to the foreign promotion of the cinema of Turkey.

3. Awards

a) The jury, upon evaluation of the films participating in the National Competition, selects the Best Film and Best Director to present them with the Golden Tulip Award. The jury also gives the Special Jury Prize, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematographer, Best Editing, and Best Music awards.

In the appraisal for the Best Film and the Best Director, the jury may present both awards to different films as well as giving both to the same film.
A monetary prize of 150,000 TL and the Golden Tulip Award are presented to the producer of the Best Film. This award is given to a single film, and cannot be shared.
The jury also presents a director deemed appropriate, the Best Director Award and 50,000 TL given by Türk Tuborg A.Ş. This award is also given to the director of a single film, and cannot be shared.
The jury, along with the main awards, bestows a Special Jury Prize in memory of Onat Kutlar. This award cannot be shared; it is given to a single film. A monetary prize of 50,000 Turkish Liras is given to the producer of the selected film.
In principal, the Jury evaluates leading parts for the Best Actress and Best Actor categories. However, these awards can be given to supporting parts of extraordinary performances. The Best Actress and Best Actor thus selected are bequeathed an honorary plaque and a monetary prize of TL 10,000 each.
Those selected by the jury in the Best Screenplay, Best Cinematographer, Best Editing, and Best Music categories will be bequeathed an honorary plaque each.

b) Debut fiction films from Turkey featured in the festival’s International Golden Tulip, National Golden Tulip and Turkish Cinema sections are eligible for the Seyfi Teoman Best Debut Film Prize. The director of the film to win this award will be given 30.000 Turkish Liras through CMYLMZ Fikirsanat.
c) The FIPRESCI Prize: The jury comprising of members of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) evaluates the films participating in the National Competition and selects the best film.
d) The directors, producers, and distributors of the winning films agree to mention the prize they are awarded in press documents and promotional materials as well as during any further distribution of the winning film (on the credit titles).

4. Conditions of Participation

For the films to participate in the National Golden Tulip Competition, the following conditions are envisaged:

a) Turkish fiction, animation, or documentary feature-length films realised after 1 January 2016 can participate to the Festival. For a film (or a co-production) to be deemed “Turkish production”, it must possess at least one of the below qualities:

i. The local producer's share should be at least 51%; or,
ii. The technical and artistic contribution of the local producer should obtain at least 14 points out of a possible 22 with regards to the below National Film Technical and Artistic Contribution Chart:

ITEM

POINTS

Director

3

Scriptwriter

3

Original score composer

1

Lead actor 1

3

Lead actor 2

2

Character actor

1

Artistic director

1

Director of photography

1

Editor

1

Sound Engineer

1

Location

1

Laboratory

1

Language used (Turkish)

3

b) The films should be at least 60 minutes long, their exhibition formats need to be digital (DCP, Full HD or BluRay), and they should be fit to be commercially screened in movie theatres.
c) Films which have won a Best Film Award at another festival within a "National Competition" in Turkey are not eligible for the competition. Films which have participated to any other Istanbul festival are not eligible for the programme.

5. Application

The producer(s) applies to participate in the festival as the legal owner of the film. If there is more than one legal owner, then the submission form must include the signatures of all legal owners or their written consent in attachment. The owners can apply to the festival with as many films as they wish.

In order for the films applying for the Festival to be promoted and to be included in the Festival catalogue, below documentation should be submitted until 31 January 2017, 17.00 hours, along with the submission forms through the online Eventival system at https://vp.eventival.eu/iff/2017.

a) Online screener link (valid for at least 3 months)
b) Technical features
c) Turkish and English synopses
d) Press book or electronic press kit
e) Film stills (high res)
f) Director’s photograph (high res); short bio and filmography;
g) Short director’s statement
h) Posters (3)
i) (in case the screening copy is not subtitled in English) Dialogue list for subtitle translation or English subtitle list
j) Trailer or excerpt in 16:9 quicktime format and an online link to the trailer to be featured on the Festival website.

The submitter confirms the veracity of the information provided in the submission form. The director or submitter commits to refrain from withdrawing the film from the festival after the programme is announced at the festival launch press conference in March.

6. Screening and Copies

Turkish films are screened with English subtitles. If the owner of the film cannot supply an English subtitled print of the film, the Festival will prepare electronic subtitles.

The last day for delivery of the copies of the films the participation of which in the competition are finalised is one week before the Festival, at the latest. The screening copies are submitted to the Festival Office at the İKSV (Istanbul Foundation of Culture and Arts). The films are taken back from the same place within a week after the Festival ends. The DCP copies must be sent to the Festival in their original hardcover cases clearly labelled with the title of the film.

7. Jury

The films to be included in the competition are determined by the Turkish Cinema Advisory Committee from among the submissions. The final judgment with respect to the inclusion of a film in the programme and its inclusion in the Golden Tulip National Competition is entered by the festival directorate. The festival reserves the right to not disclose information regarding the selection of films.

In order for the competition to be held, at least 6 films should be eligible. If the number of films determined until 31 January 2017, the deadline for submission, does not reach six, then the competition is not held; the films which have applied are screened at the Festival out of competition.

Films to be screened for the Golden Tulip National Competition are evaluated by a jury determined by the Turkish Cinema Advisory Committee of the Istanbul Film Festival. The jury comprises film producers, directors, screenwriters, actors, film critics, film historians, academics, and prominent people in branches of art connected to cinema, from Turkey and abroad.

The President of the Jury is appointed by the Festival Directorate. The jury designates its own working system. Members of the jury should view the films in competition, the screening arrangement of which is determined by the Festival Directorate, within the duration of the Festival, in formal screenings in movie theatres or in private screenings, individually or collectively. The Festival Directorate keeps an observer with no voting rights at the decision-making session of the jury. The President of the Jury, before the decision is announced, submits to the Festival Directorate the minutes signed by all members.

8. Insurance

The Festival is responsible for the insurance of the prints selected, from the moment they are received by the Festival to the moment they are collected by the forwarding agent.

Should a print be lost or damaged, the Festival’s responsibility could be engaged only to the extent of the value indicated by the producer on the entry form. If the entrant does not send the entry form to the Festival Office until 31 January 2017, the print will be valued by the insurance company on 2,500 US Dollars.

9. Authority

The festival authority reserves the right to disqualify films not meeting the technical specifications or legal qualifications required and sufficient for public screening.

The Turkish film owners, producers, and directors of the Turkish films participating in the program of the Istanbul Film Festival are considered to have accepted the rules of these regulations. The authority of any resolution concerning subjects not separately established in the regulations belongs to the Istanbul Foundation of Culture and Arts.